Leaks or other unusual events that cause extraordinary flow volumes in piping systems unnecessarily cost residential and commercial property owners money. In addition, leaking water can cause large amounts of damage to a home or commercial space. Water is typically expensive; high utility bills may result from excess or wasted usage. In addition, the growing scarcity of potable water motivates reducing and eliminating waste.
Water damage resulting from leaks can cost property owners or insurance companies additional expense. A detector that monitors fluid flow volume and alerts owners, authorities, insurance companies, or a central station alarm company when unusual volume is detected may reduce overall utility usage, as well as unnecessary damage and expenses caused by water leaks. Additionally, a small, easily installable, easily operable detector will encourage and facilitate use by property owners.
The NYCDEP is offering its customers a leak notification program that will automatically send the property owner an alert if they notice a dramatic increase in daily water use. The alert is sent via email the next day.
Many current flow meters that measure flow by automatically reading meters are bulky are designed for technician use only, and do not alert owners to unusual flow volumes. Rather, they merely report actual consumption. Utility meters are often located inaccessibly. For this reason, and to reduce field personal, utility companies, for instance, find advantage in automatically reading meters electronically, and transmitting the reading, such as by radio waves.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,742,883 issued Jun. 22, 2010 to Dayton, et al, is a faucet flow timing system that monitors volume of water usage. The present invention relates to an energy consumption awareness and flow meter. The invention provides a device to improve awareness, such as within a household or a business, of water consumed through, for instance, bathing and showering, and encourages conservation by providing information related to water usage. Most of this can be accomplished with a timer, calculator and a gallon jug.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,549,322 issued Feb. 28, 2007 to Kaplan, discloses a system and method for detecting a leak in a piping system. An IR (not visible) LED is used as a light source to illuminate the face of the meter. It mentions a spot of light but does not teach how to accomplish this. This system does not actually measure the quantity of water flowing. An RC timing circuit through an A.C. coupled transistor amplifier times the flow. The detailed description and schematic drawings are nebulous.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,377,184 issued May 27, 2008 to Schlachter discloses a non-intrusive flow detector consisting of an optical sensor assembly. It uses an infrared light source (not visible) that requires a fine-tuning adjustment to accurately position the optical sensor over the least flow indicator. The pick-up is a phototransistor whose signal is A.C. coupled to an amplifier and feed to adjustable timing circuits, which in turn, determine how long the flow continues. It does not report actual consumption.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,360,413 issued Apr. 22, 2008 to Jeffries et al. discloses a wireless water flow monitoring and leak detection system and method. The wireless flow sensors require installation directly into the piping system. A piston with a magnet is arranged to reciprocate in a cylinder-displaced proportional to the flow. A Hall Effect Sensor is utilized to sense the position of the piston. This arrangement is subject to fouling. They claim the sensor can detect a water flow of ¼ cup per minute, which is 2 ounces per minute.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,042,368 issued May 9, 2006 to Patterson et al., discloses an automated meter reader to report utility consumption. A device and method of use are described having an optical transceiver that emits light toward the a meter face, an optical receiver that accepts light reflected off the meter face, and an A.C coupled amplifier and gain control as part of a signaling processing unit. Patterson et al. do not disclose any means to continuously monitor for unusual flow rates. The detector is not designed for property owner use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,920 issued Jun. 30, 1998 to Jewett et al., discloses a domestic water valve assembly that closes a motor actuated valve when leaks are detected. The flow-sensing device is a vane that rotates about an axis in proportion to the rate of flow, which controls the value of a variable resistor. This arrangement is prone to fouling and rendered inaccurate in time by contaminants in the water requiring replacement. It requires alterations to the plumbing
U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,727 issued Apr. 17, 2001 to Genova et al., discloses a water flow-sensing device that utilizes a linear variable differential transformer LVDT. The movement and position of a magnet inside a pipe determines to output. In addition to restricting the overall fluid flow through the piping system it is subject to clogging and requires alteration to the plumbing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,587 issued May 25, 1993 to Green, also discloses a device for monitoring utility usage. A meter sensor assembly is attached to a meter and a user interface unit with LCD display processes the sensor signal into useful data. This device is less bulky and obtrusive than that of Patterson et al., but it is built to read only meters with rotating discs. Again it reports consumption, but does not automatically alert a user or other party to unusual volumes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,051 issued Nov. 13, 2001 to Cohen, discloses an invasive flow-monitoring device mounted in series with a water pipe, a controller, logic components and a shut-off valve to shut off water flow when a predetermined condition is met. No meter is read, and actual modifications to existing piping systems must be made.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,329 issued Jul. 20, 1993 to Dennison, discloses a leak detector that uses a series of thermal fluid flow sensors that must be installed into the piping system. These sensors detect leaks indirectly by comparing variations in pipe temperature caused by variations in flow rate. When leaks are detected, a chime and a light emitting diode are activated.
Presently available flow detectors that do alert owners to unusual flow volumes are invasive to the meters and piping systems, bulky and unwieldy for typical owners to install and operate. Whereas automatic meter readers are somewhat non-invasive, leak detectors typically use invasive means such as valve or pipe add-ons. Other detectors use non-centralized systems that do not detect flow starting at the meter where the piping system begins. These detectors change conductivity when water bridges two or more electrodes and are strategically located through out the premises.
Operation of Sprinkler Systems.
At present, existing sprinkler systems utilize a flow detector that is comprised of a mechanical paddle or vane mounted inside of the water pipe. This paddle is configured as a lever with a pivot point and operates a micro switch when it is deflected by the water flow in order to generate a fire alarm. Some are equipped with a pneumatic retard timer to compensate for pressure variations; this can be set for 10 to 90 seconds. To install this paddle, a hole has to be made in the iron water pipe and with other necessary gaskets, switch, wiring etc., the installation is completed. This installation is time consuming and requires a skilled technician to install thus making it a costly venture. In addition, attempting to make a hole in the pipe occasionally causes the pipe to shatter incurring additional expense. Since it is a mechanical system with metal parts (the paddle itself is made of plastic) and usually installed in a hostile, wet, dirty environment, it is subject to fouling and corrosion. Periodic testing is required by the fire department agencies to insure the proper functioning of this sprinkler alarm.
A properly installed, protected, LED, photo sensor arrangement on the water meter itself would eliminate most of the objections cited. In addition, any small leaks would be detected in a wet system. Suitable delay times to compensate for water pressure surges etc. could be easily programmed into a microprocessor. With the mechanical system, the water flow leak has to move the paddle (lever) a sufficient distance to activate the micro switch. The Potter Electric devices require a flow of 10 gallons per minute and must exceed the retard time. Even with the LED, photo sensor arrangement, periodic testing would still be required to insure proper functioning.
It would be advantageous to provide a centralized flow detector to detect flow rates from the beginning throughout the entire piping system.
It would also be advantageous to provide a fluid flow detector that continuously monitors the dials on a meter for unusual flow volume.
It would further be advantageous to provide an easily installable, easily operable fluid flow detector to facilitate use by a property owner.
It would also be advantageous to provide a fluid flow detector with a sensor assembly mechanically adjustable in three planes.
It would further be advantageous to provide a fluid flow detector capable of alerting property owners, authorities, insurance companies, or central stations of unusual fluid flow rates.
It would be advantageous to provide a non-evasive fluid flow detector that does not require modification to the existing piping systems or the existing meters.
It would be advantageous to have a visible, focused spot of light consuming less than 1 milli-amp at 5 volts, incorporated into the fluid flow detector to facilitate adjustment and battery operation.